A few weeks ago, in a couple comments to some of the posts, I mentioned my apprehension, i.e., that Sen Obama, Democratic Party candidate for the White House will be facing tough times ahead.
I wasn't exactly thinking of the bruising US presidential campaign that's going on or the lies being hurled around about him by the eternal Prisoner Of War Sen John McCain, his shallow bubble-head running mate, Sarah Palin and their Republican Party cohorts as such but of something more sinister, something that has been going around albeit in whispers since Sen Obama defeated Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination: the United States may choose to elect the Republican Party nominee not because the Democratic Party candidate is not qualified to be the next US president but that Sen Obama may lose the general election because of his race.
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In fact, immediately following Obama's victory over Hillary Clinton in Denver last month, Mary Dejevsky wrote in The Independent: I'd love to think the US is ready for a black President.
Today, an AP-Yahoo poll seems to confirm my apprehension, i.e., that the senator from Illinois may be up against the worst prejudice that has haunted Americans for generations: Racial misgivings of Dems an Obama issue
WASHINGTON - Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.
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To my mind, it will be a bigger or as big an injustice that Americans could inflict on themselves and by extension to the Western world, if for reason of colour, Senator Obama loses out to Sen McCain. It will almost be as gross an injustice that many Americans inflicted on the world when they supported Pres George Bush's invasion of and war on Iraq based on brazen lies.
If it's any consolation at all to US voters who might have misgivings about voting for Sen Obama because of his 'race,' it will be worth remembering that Sen Obama (picture showing Barack Obama as a toddler with his mother) is half-white as the family picture below (maternal side) shows.
I would like to think that Senator Obama will win the November election despite racial misgivings on the part of some (or many) of his own party supporters. Electing Sen Obama to the White House represents not only change in America but I dare say, will also be unifying force that will eventually heal America's racial divide.